WIMBLEDON ROOF RAGE
Kerber joy as Serena waits on Novak’s in final as furious Rafa is left hot and bothered
SERENA WILLIAMS had to wait more than two hours for her chance to join Margaret Court as the Greatest of All Time – and the result means her wait will go on.
Winning at Wimbledon would have brought her 24th Grand Slam title, matching the incredible feat of Australian legend Court.
But after hanging around while Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal fought their epic semi-final Serena just couldn’t get started when she did finally get on court.
It took 30-year-old Angelique Kerber just 65 minutes to cash in on her erratic play with a 6-3, 6-3 victory and become the first German women’s Wimbledon winner since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Williams refused to make excuses and insisted her march to the final as a 36-year-old working mum was a new stage in what has been an incredible career.
“I’m not going to ever make an excuse,” she said. “The wait definitely didn’t have any impact on me. It was a necessary evil – they didn’t finish their match and it had to be completed.
“Actually this whole tournament I didn’t have a definite start time, so I was fine. These two weeks have told me I can compete for the long run.”
From the very first point she was up and down, going 30-0 up and then not winning another point to drop her serve.
And though she broke back, and then boomed down a 125mph ace, the fastest of this year’s tournament, she followed it by serving two double faults in a row to drop her serve again.
Kerber collapsed with joy at the end. Her own story has been a fightback after reaching the world No.1 spot in 2016 and then losing her way.
“I have been though every experience good and bad and that definitely helped keep me calm to win,” she said. NOVAK DJOKOVIC hopes to raise the roof at Wimbledon in today’s men’s singles final.
Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, would have loved to have blown the whole thing off after crashing out in the semis.
Djokovic claimed a thrilling 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 10-8 victory over the man he dubbed “probably my biggest rival” in an epic encounter which lasted 5hrs 15mins and rolled over two days.
But the Spaniard was doubly unhappy that the Centre Court roof, having been closed due to the late start of their game on Friday night, remained so for yesterday’s final two sets despite the blue skies overhead.
It was like a greenhouse inside and Nadal, whose sweat-drenched shirt clung to him throughout, was furious.
He said: “It’s an outdoor tournament. OK, we started indoors but what I don’t understand is why it had to be closed today.”
BBC expert Tim Henman suggested both players would have been consulted and had they wanted it open,
Wimbledon would have done so.
MATCH STATS
Happy
Djokovic, however, insisted that wasn’t the case, even though he admitted he was happy for it to stay shut. He said: “We started to play under it and I wanted to play in the same conditions. I was asked for my opinion but, as I understood, they had already made their decision. “The tournament organisers and referees said the roof had to be closed because we started with it.” Former world No.1 Djokovic, now ranked 21, held his nerve in an exhilarating semi-final – and can now win his first Grand Slam for two years by claiming a fourth Wimbledon crown. The man he faces, Kevin Anderson, came through a brutal last-four match of his own and both will need to draw on energy reserves. Djokovic said: “I don’t know if I will be the favourite but he is playing the best tennis of his life.”